Winning her back
by AlexisJones
Summary: What if Delphine hadn't been shot and instead was determined to get Cosima back? Featuring Shay as a flirty waitress, rated M for stuff to come.
1. Chapter 1

'Cosima?'

Her voice rung out across the café and the young dreadlocked girl at booth number nine turned her head and smiled widely, 'yo, Delphine, over here!' She waved perhaps a little too enthusiastically and so was blushing by the time Delphine had arrived at her table.

'This is a nice place'

Cosima could hear the tentativeness in her voice as Delphine removed her chic cream coat and hung it over the back of her seat. She used this time to check her out, the woman that looked so familiar and yet so different, she noted the way her elegant body moved under the harsh florescent light, the curve of her hips, the tight stomach hidden under a silk shirt, the way it clung to her breasts and- oh god - now Cosima was blushing even deeper. She forced her eyes up to meet with Delphine's and motioned to the chair 'You can sit down ya' know. I don't bite.' The blonde woman sat and smiled coyly 'that's not what I remember.' The playful tone made Cosima's heart ache but she wouldn't allow herself to give in, not so soon anyway.

An awkward silence fell over the couple as they sat, both staring the other down, trying to figure out some sense of situation.

'Can I get you ladies anything?' The appearance of the waitress was a relief, although Cosima found it harder than she'd like to admit to tear her eyes away from the blonde 'Hey Shay,' she leant back on her chair 'I'll just have my usual I guess.'

'Sure thing, Cos.' She scribbled quickly on her notepad, 'and for you?' Delphine was unsure what to order, what was Cosima's regular? She didn't want to order food if Cosima had only got a coffee 'She'll take the same.' Cosima winked across the table and Delphine was grateful, once again, for how easily Cosima could read her. 'Cool, two subs coming up. By the way, the new glasses look good.' The waitress took off and Delphine stared at Cosima. 'You got new glasses?'

'Yeah, well I got my eyes retested and needed new ones so I got these frames instead.' Her hands went subconsciously to her face 'but I don't think I like them quite as much. I think they make me look like a school teacher.' Delphine felt angry with the waitress for noticing the change before she had 'they don't. I think they look nice.'

'Thanks.' Another awkward silence fell as the woman searched for something to say. 'So. Did you, erm, bring my stuff?'

'Oh, oui, I mean, yes.' Delphine passed a paper bag over the table 'Do you want to check I got everything?'

'Nah, I trust you.' Cosima slid the bag off the table and down by her feet 'Well, I trust you about this anyway.' The snide remark hung in the air and cut Delphine deep, but she knew she probably deserved it. There was so much she wanted to tell Cosima, she wanted to reach across the table and beg for her forgiveness, she wanted to tell her she was sorry, that she knew she messed up but that she needed Cosima in her life, that her heart could not take any more time apart from her. But what came out was a simple, 'I miss you.'

'Delphine, I-' she was interrupted by the waitress arriving with two cokes. After putting the drinks down Shay reached into her apron and pulled out a small, battered book 'This is the book I was telling you about,' she passed it over to Cosima, 'I think you'll really like it. It's my own copy so no reading it in the bath okay? You get this one wet and I swear to god, you'll be in trouble.' A playful wink and a flourish and the waitress was gone again. Delphine's eyes followed her all the way back to the counter. 'This waitress. I think she has a crush on you.'

'Oh yeah totally.' Cosima rolled her eyes, putting the booking on top of the bag Delphine had given her,

'And how did she know you like to read in the bath, hmm? I wonder… Do you like her back?' She tried to keep her tone light but the hurt and jealously was obvious.

'It's not really your business who I like, is it?' Cosima had her guard up again, 'But for the record, we're just friendly. I came in here a lot after you broke up with me.'

'Ah. You are just friendly, and she is just friendly giving you books and compliments, I'm sure she is doing this with all the people she waits on.'

'She's lending it to me, not giving. And she's not just a waitress you know, so you can stop with that degrading voice. She actually owns this place.'

Delphine held her hands up in surrender 'Okay, okay. Je suis désolé. I'm sorry. I'm just not ready to see other girls make passes at you yet.'

'Then you shouldn't have broken up with me.' Cosima had full on puppy dog eyes as she gazed at the woman opposite her, her voice was indignant but underneath Delphine detected a hint of longing, a hint that maybe Cosima missed Delphine as much as Delphine missed Cosima.

'Oui, I shouldn't have.' The girls hands found each other from across the table and they intertwined their fingers. The familiarity of the touch sent electric shocks down both their arms and it seemed to Delphine that their heads were bowed, moving closer together, eyes closing, lips parting-

'Two subs!' An oblivious Shay set the sandwiches down on the table between the two women and Delphine mentally cursed her a hundred times twice over, once in English and again in French. She had nearly done it; she had nearly won Cosima back. But now the brunette had withdrawn her hands and was staring at her once again with a cool indifference. Merde.


	2. Chapter 2

The two shared stiff, but perfectly pleasant, small talk as they picked at their food. When she'd finished Cosima excused herself and went to the bathroom, Delphine gave her three minutes and then followed after her. Her long legs had her at the bathroom door in a few powerful strides, without a second though she burst into the ladies.

'Delphine! What-' Cosima's head turned at the sound of Delphine's noisy entrance but never got to finish her sentence as Delphine spun her around, pushed her back up against the sink and crashed into her lips.

Taken aback, Cosima was rigid, but this was the first time in months that she'd felt Delphine's lips against her own and it felt too good to resist. Melting into Delphine's body Cosima threw her arms around Delphine's neck and entangled them in her lustrous blonde hair. Delphine moaned into Cosima's open mouth, spurred on by her enthusiastic response. She broke free and hiked the smaller girl up on to ridge of the sink, forcing her body in between her legs, which Cosima happily wrapped around her hips, hands pulling Delphine lips back to hers.

This time when they kissed it was deeper. Both girls giving in to their most animal instincts. Delphine pulled Cosima's shirt up and slipped her hands underneath, running her cold fingers over the lithe stomach and around to her back. She felt Cosima push into her as her nails dug into the soft flesh, and she moved her lips downwards, kissing and biting lightly at her neck. Cosima lifted her head and threw it back, exposing more of her neck to Delphine and wrapped her legs more tightly around her hips. 'Cosima, ma Cherie.' Delphine breathed into Cosima's ear 'j'ai besoin de toi.' Cosima's head spun at the sound of her love speaking French, she'd forgotten how hot it was when Delphine came on to her in French. She had no idea what was being said, of course, but she knew she liked it. 'Je veux être à l'intérieur de vous' Delphine's hands seemed to be everywhere at once, cradling her face, caressing her breasts, scratching at her back, but when they moved to Cosima's upper thigh she broke off their kiss and pulled back.

'Delphine, we're in a public place.' As if only just realising where they were, Cosima tried to pull away, but Delphine had other ideas,

'So?' She spoke softly into Cosima's ear, one hand cradling her face, the other drawing circles on her inner thigh.

'So…' Cosima half laughed, 'we should stop.' She tried to pull her face away again

'Mhh?' Delphine decided not to listen, she held Cosima's head in place, her thumb firmly on the other girls jaw, her fingers curled underneath her chin, revealing as much of her neck as she could. She could feel how badly Cosima wanted her, even through her tights. She drew tight little circles with her thumb; she raised the pressure and felt Cosima jerk with a sharp intake of breath.

'Okay, okay. I've missed you too.' Cosima spoke breathlessly 'But I really don't think this is the right environment for this.' Her hands went to the blonde's shoulders and she gave a soft, sad smile. 'And in fact, I don't know whether I'm ready for this' she gestured at the space in-between them with both hands. Delphine closed her eyes and lay her head upon Cosima's shoulder, a decidedly more comfortable position when Cosima was raised a considerable amount. They stayed like that for maybe a minute, Delphine taking long breaths as Cosima held her arms around her. When she finally stood up, Delphine was her usual, composed self. 'Okay. I understand. But I am not giving up. And one day you will be ready for… for this.' She half mocked Cosima's turn of phrase and hand gestures, which earned her another eye roll and a shoulder push from the older girl. And when you are, it will be, err…' she searched for the right word, 'magical. It will be magical.'


	3. Chapter 3

Delphine left first, she kissed Cosima gently on both cheeks, checked her hair in the mirror and then, with one last smile, Cosima found herself suddenly alone. She realised it was the first time in weeks when she'd actually been by herself, in between the stupid amount of hours she'd been putting in at the lab and the constant check ups from Sarah and Felix, she'd somehow forgotten what it was like to be alone. She faced her reflection of herself and observed it, she remembered the first time she'd realised she was ill, the way that her coughs had turned into a mouth full of coppery tasting blood. She shook her head slightly at the thought, with everything that had just happened she had way too much on her plate to be taking a trip down memory lane. She splashed her face with water, thank god for waterproof eyeliner, and went back out into the café.

She was half grateful, half sad to see that Delphine had left the café completely. She kinda missed her already, but knew she needed some time to digest everything in her head. It was all happening a bit too quickly for Cosima, she still had so many questions she needed to ask. When she reached the table she saw that Delphine had left a note, 'je t'aime' written in perfect calligraphy on fresh white notepad paper. Cosima picked up the paper and toyed with it, 'your girlfriends pretty neat isn't she? If that was me it would have been scribbled on an old receipt in biro.' Shay had somehow snuck up behind Cosima without her noticing. 'Huh? Oh yeah, me too. Obvs.' Cosima pocketed the note, 'and she's not my girlfriend.' Something in Cosima's voice made Shay serious, 'you wanna talk about it?' Cosima shook her head and went to take a drink from her half finished coke still on the table 'you need something stronger in that?' Shay suggested, nodding to the drink, Cosima raised her eyebrows at the waitress, who was already wondering off 'come on' she called over her shoulder, making her way to the bar.

Cosima passed over her drink and took a stool at the quiet end of the bar as Shay quickly added two shots of vodka to her drink. 'I hide it in an old milk cartoon,' she laughed 'reserved for only my favourite customers of course. Or for when I'm having a bad day.' Cosima took a lark gulp and winced slightly at the strong taste 'Well thank you, I'm honoured.'

'You sure you don't wanna talk about it?'

'Nope. No, no, no. What I _do_ want to do is get blazed and forget all about all the shit that's going on.'

Shay nodded understandingly, 'well, you give me half an hour to chuck these guys out and close up and your wish is my command.'

'Really? No way,' Cosima's eyes were wide 'Booze is one thing, but pot? I had no idea it was that kind of a café.'

'Oh getting stoned here after closing is the best. Have you ever got stoned in a café? They are _the_ best place to get the munchies.'

And that was how Cosima and Shay found themselves, an hour later, sitting on the floor by the bar, surrounded by a Helena amount of food. 'Pink Floyd? Really?' Cosima laughed, 'you are such a cliché!'

'Hey! What's wrong with Pink Floyd?'

'Nothing, nothing. It's just so… Middle school stoner session.'

'Okay, and what would you listen to, oh queen of high music.' Giggled Shay, crushing another handful of crisps into her mouth.

Cosima commandeered Shay's iPhone and stuck on some Tame Impala. As the slow tunes swam their way around the café she lay down on the floor, spraying whipped cream from the can straight into her mouth. 'Oh yeah-hit me up.' Shay lay down, placing her head in Cosima's lap and opening her mouth wide; obligingly Cosima sprayed a large amount of the cream onto Shay's tongue. Cosima placed the canister down, stretched with both arms and then let her hands fall to her side. She'd forgotten that Shay was still lying on her lap and so instead of her hand falling to the floor of the café it instead landed on a petite blonde's hard stomach. She thought about moving it but she was too high for any real coherent thoughts and, to be entirely honest, it felt nice. Absent mindlessly Cosima drew small circles with her thumb on the girls abdomen smirking slightly when she felt her tense and wiggle underneath her touch. 'You know, have you ever thought...' Cosima stared down at Shay who had her softly closed and was speaking slowly 'if you're waiting for the waiter, aren't you the waiter?' Cosima exhaled loudly and started silently giggling; Shay opened her eyes and smiled widely, proud to have made Cosima laugh so hard. With ever second that went by the two girls starting laughing harder and harder until finally composing themselves with long deep breaths. 'Dude, you're so high'

'You're so high, dude.'

'Dude you're, _so_ high.'

Cosima and Shay had sat up and were facing each other; both sitting crossed legged on the floor. Poking each other as they spoke

'Dude,'

'Dude…'

The last poke that Shay gave hit Cosima on the collar of her t-shirt, Shay turned the poke into pinch, grabbing the material between her finger and thumb and pulling Cosima toward her.

The kiss that she gave was deep and sensual, made more intense by the pot still spinning its way through their system. It was a kiss without boundaries, a kiss that hinted at Shay's experience, bold and unafraid. It was a _good_ kiss.

But it wasn't Delphine.

Fuck. As soon as her name entered her mind Cosima pulled back and away from Shay who shrugged 'The tall, gorgeous, not-your-girlfriend-girl?' She asked

'Yeah… Like, I'm, I'm totes sorry.' Cosima's usually active hands went into overdrive 'It's not that that was bad, I mean, no. Yeah it was good.' Shay raised an eyebrow 'Great, I mean it was great. But it's just like. I've got so much stuff in my head right now that I just can't like, commit or anything.' Shay seemed relatively unbothered by Cosima's declaration, and instead concentrated on eating as many crisps as she could. 'It's cool, I knew you had a "thing" but hey, can't blame me for trying. I mean, you're really hot.' Cosima blushed, still unused to such blatant compliments. She had never really been called hot before, she was a geeky kid in school, not unliked, but definitely not hot. It had only really been in her undergrad where she developed her own sense of style and really found herself. It was moments like these when she still felt like a nerdy sixteen year old.

'You're pretty hot too. And thanks for all this it's been great. It's late though, I should, like, get going.' Shay walked Cosima to the door and kissed her cheek as she left 'I hope your not-a-girlfriend knows what she's got' she winked and closed the door behind Cosima.

Cosima felt like a fool. She started walking down the deserted streets, feeling the slow come down off the weed. Did Delphine even like her? It seemed like she really wanted to get her back but then, why break up with her in the first place? Cosima wasn't buying the whole 'love you all equally' thing; it was a weak ass excuse. Anger and sadness, and yes, longing mixed around her stomach when she thought of Delphine. The longing slowly growing stronger as she walked, it overtook the anger, and eventually the sadness too. Until she was just left with a pit of desire growing inside her. It must have been in the back of her head for quite some time, because When Cosima stopped walking and finally took notice of her surroundings she immediately recognised where she was. Outside a block of nondescript flats. Nondescript except for the fact that on the second floor, Flat 18, slept the most amazing woman she'd ever met. She was outside Delphine's apartment.


	4. Chapter 4

She struggled with her emotions for half a second but she knew she wanted to go inside, and besides, it was turning into a really cold night and she'd forgotten her coat. Using the keys Delphine had given her she let her self into the building and started up the stairs, giving pause when she reached Delphine's front door. She had the key to that one too, but it seemed a little stalker-ish just to let herself in. She knocked on the door politely, thinking about what she was going to say when it opened. But the door remained firmly closed. She knocked again, a little louder this time and smiled when, a few seconds later, she heard French grumbling coming from the other side of the door. The door was slowly opened, still on latch and Cosima caught a glimpse of a tired eyed, bed hair, Delphine. She smiled fondly; this was how she liked to think of Delphine, innocent and sleepy, rather than the Rachel 2.0 that she'd become. 'Cosima?' she loved the way her voice sounded on those foreign lips. She loved the inflection she put on the middle syllable instead of the last. She never wanted to stop hearing her name from those lips. The door was closed slightly and the latch taken off, revealing Delphine's rather skimpy bed wear. 'Is something wrong?' The tired Delphine shook her head, trying to determine whether she was dreaming or whether Cosima really did just arrive on her doorstep. 'Relax, Delphine.' The confident brunette strolled over to the bedroom 'nothing's wrong. But I am cold, and tired.' Delphine followed her over to the bedroom, still in a bit of a daze, by the time she had caught up Cosima was already pulling on one of Delphine's over sized shirts to wear to bed. Delphine caught a glimpse of toned legs and a tight ass and groaned appreciatively. 'What?' Cosima asked, spinning around and untying her hair, letting the dreads fall down around her shoulders 'nothing, nothing.' Delphine let her eyes slowly crawl over Cosima's body 'I'd just forgotten how _hot_ it is when you're wearing my clothes.'

'Mhm, well. I don't feel very hot right now, did you know its like, _cold_ outside.' Delphine chuckled underneath her breath 'Yes, ma chère, it is winter.'

'I don't think I like winter,' Cosima buried herself under Delphine's duck feather duvet; still shivering despite the warmth it offered. Delphine instantly decided winter was her favourite season, if it was going to bring a tired Cosima to her bed. 'You can get in ya know.' Cosima spoke with sleepy honesty 'as great as this bed is, it's better with you in it.' The words were barely out of her mouth when she felt the bed dip and a warm body crawled in next to her. Delphine reached out and turned off the bedside light, when she lay back down she felt the smaller girl nudging her way onto her chest, she let Cosima settle and then bought up her hand to stroke the course dreadlocks which tumbled messily around her. Cosima could feel Delphine's heart beat racing and she spoke softly into her chest 'g'night Delphine.'

'bonne nuit mon amour.'

Cosima woke and stretched her hands out over the bed, searching for the body that wasn't there. She sat up quickly upon making this realisation and found her glasses, when she'd made sure they were securely on her face with a little nose scrunch she looked around the room and spotted Delphine leaning against the door frame with a bemused face. She grinned, 'You are so cute in the morning, Cosima.' She said, closing her eyes and making wild gestures with her hands, looking like a blind person searching for their glasses. Her teasing was cut off short by a pillow thumping into her face with surprising accuracy. She tsked Cosima, still teasing, 'these are very expensive feather pillows, and we do not throw them around the house like commoners.' She put the pillow back on the bed and perched on the side 'Yeah, the pillows are alright.' Agreed Cosima, with a mischievous look in her eye 'but I prefer the pillow I was using last night.' With that she dove and wrapped her arms around Delphine's waist, forcing her down on to the bed and pinning her underneath. Delphine's smile was wide and unforced. She had missed this. Missed Cosima's natural playfulness, she doubted she'd ever even felt real happiness until she'd locked eyes on the cheeky American girl across the lab.

Where she was pretending to be someone else.

When she was lying to Cosima's face.

She sighed and tried to rid herself of the guilt, but she could never seem to really shift it. Cosima sensed rather than felt the shift in mood nuzzled Delphine with her nose 'Come on Dr. Cormier, don't be sad.'

'I am not sad, ma chère,'

'Hmm. Well I'm no doctor but, yep,' Cosima inspected her with fake seriousness 'I definitely diagnose you as sad. And as we all know, there's only one cure for sadness.'

'Hmm, and what would that be?' Delphine purred, hoping to seduce the girl still above her. Cosima didn't reply but instead lowered herself down, until their lips were only millimetres away from each other, Delphine closed her eyes in anticipation of the kiss, but none came. Instead she felt a sudden tickle on her rib cage 'Non Cosima! Ne pas à nouveau!' Cosima paid no attention to the sudden French spilling from her lips, nor the kicks and screams coming from the usually reserved woman. 'Dr Cormier!' exclaimed Cosima between laughing fits 'Did I just hear a squeal!? Did the big boss, scary, Delphine Cormier just _squeal_?'

'Shh. Don't tell anyone, you'll ruin my reputation.'

Cosima finally stopped her tickling and laughed 'see, perfect cure. No more sadness.' At that exact moment Delphine's stomach growled loudly 'I've got a cure for that as well.' Cosima slipped her body off the bed and grasped Delphine by the hand, pulling her up. 'Lets go to breakfast.' Delphine nodded silently, not wanting to ruin this moment, she could almost believe her and Cosima were a real couple, with no history, no bad blood, no DYAD between them. Cosima looked at her clothes, which Delphine had neatly folded up and put on a chair, 'I'm going to need to borrow a coat.'


End file.
